Friday, September 12, 2008

The next time you hear a Republican blogger (or any Republican friend of family member) say they don't "trust" Obama and Biden because they don't tell the truth, they exaggerate, or they change their positions, do me a favor and send them this video.

We all would love our political figures to not be so "squishy," but let's face it, folks. Almost every political figure has massaged a story for maximum emotional effect, and that's what McCain did in this video. How can people jump on Biden without jumping on McCain?

Feel free to vote against Obama because you don't think universal healthcare, emissions standards, or repeal of tax breaks for the very wealthy and companies that send workers overseas are good ideas, but if you vote against him on "trust issues," you're engaging in some self-justifying rationalizations.

After trusting Republicans Bush/Cheney, you now trust Republicans McCain/Palin to undo the damage?

Unless you are making more than $250,000, you'll be paying lower taxes with Obama/Biden. American life expectancy is lower than Costa Rica or Slovakia - so if you're happy with ever-rising insurance costs and declining health indices, feel free to oppose universal healthcare! You'll die early but broke...

P.S. John Sidney McCain III has had socialized medicine all his life - he was even born in a government hospital!

It's a shame that so many Americans have fallen for the demonization of the word liberal. There was a time when there were Republicans that wished to be called liberals, and Democrats embraced the term. Social scientists agree to this day that a large majority of Americans hold liberal or left-leaning views, yet less than 25% consider themselves liberals.

Unfortunately, most folks like Kevin don't understand the word liberal (and apparently don't know what Socialism is either). It's just something to fear in their minds. I've heard a person call liberals communists, fascists, and socialists in the same discussion. How do you debate someone with views like that? (I don't envy Biden - if you engage in an argument with a crazy person who likes to kill bears from a helicopter and believes Creationism should be taught as science, some of the crazy inevitably wipes off on you).

The Kevins of the world will continue to believe that all taxes are evil and that government cannot serve as a conduit to a greater society, but hopefully someday that silent majority of citizens too engrossed in their personal world to see the opportunities in the voting booth will wake up just long enough to cast those deciding votes that set our government free to serve the greater good, and ultimately their own personal best interests at the same time, like health care, education, infrastructure and personal liberty.

Of course thinking like this won't qualify me as a "Patriot" among the likes of Kevin and those on the right, but hope springs eternal (unless we can't drill for it offshore).

I love it when people decry all tax increases. The economy of scale that the government is able to secure is reason alone to let them handle it. Don't believe me? Go outside your house and get a quote on the cost to repave the portion of the street in front of your house. Now, compare that with your proparty tax bill.

To those who think universal healthcare isn't the answer, what is? The Republicans had 6 solid years of running Congress and the White House, so where is their plan that insured the 40 Million + people that are uninsured? They had their chance and they couldn't get it done, so let's give us a shot at it and see what we can do.

You, sir, have offered a fine rationale for voting against Obama. I disagree that his objective is to create socialism, but at least that is a policy-based rationale for your opposition. Kudos to you, and if you can prove me wrong based on his voting history or his policy proclamations, at least that is an honest debate, and if it comes to pass, you can give a big, "I told you so!" Your rationale is not based on the notion Obama is somehow un-American.

Let's look at just 2 things Obama promises if he is elected. Last week in a speech he said he is going to make college more affordable for college students by giving them up to a $4000 tax credit if they work for a volunteer organization during the year. First he said it is going to the student. I would guess that most college student do not owe taxes therefore the $4000 credit does them no good. It will not take long for them to figure this out so they will not do it. Most students could make as much in a summer job, live at home, run with their friends. Now some will do the volunteer thing but not many. Second he said he is going to give a federal income tax cut to 95% of the working people. The problem is a large segment of that 95% of the working people do not pay any federal income tax now. So in each case he is either dishonest or he doesn't know what he is talking about.The frustrating thing is on both sides there is no real debate on such things and we somehow rely on the media to investigate these things for us. I would like some of the same questions asked of Palin, who is by no means the best choice in governing, of Obama. If you don't count his latest world tour and the time he lived with his stepfather in Indonesia how many times has he be overseas or before a month or so ago how many times had he met with heads of state unless he was with a congressional junket?

The problem is our presidential primaries select the extremes of both parties. The media takes sides and either doesn’t care to or doesn’t know enough to ask relevant questions. Let’s quit talking about killing bears, being able to send emails, calling people socialist, nazi’s, racists, etc and start discussing the real issues. It probably will not matter but at least it will make us feel better.

I don't work 50-60 hours a week to have the government take a big chunk of my earnings every payday. Wealth redistribution is a big tenet of the left, and I just don't agree with that.

On a side note, the discussion of liberal/socialist is an interesting one. When I look back at history, Sen. McCain is much more liberal than Kennedy was, yet he is decried by the Left as 'more of the same.' Many of us conservatives are upset with Pres. Bush, but not for the same reasons as the left. The skyrocketing budget, and addition of the largest entitlement in generations with the prescription drug benefit were not well thought out, and may end up bankrupting this country.

The issues in this election should be: how do we reduce overall government spending, how can America become more self-sufficient in all aspects (energy, production of goods, etc...), and how can government get out of the way so a)markets can regulate themselves and b)people and small businesses are allowed to thrive.

When the government (or any entity) gives a people all they need to survive, there is no drive to achieve. The best thing government can do is to set conditions in such a way that it rewards people for achievement. By doing this, it increases its own tax revenues without having to increase tax rates.